The policeman is charged with attempted murder. The hearing was broadcast live on the Internet.
Security cameras recorded the incident and the retransmission of the snapshots caused outrage in Chile. Two videos have released a police officer pushing the XNUMX-year-old - as he runs to avoid police, along with other protesters on the edge of the bridge - causing him to fall off the bridge over the railing.
The young man survived, although he fell from a height of seven meters on the bank of the Rio Mapo. He suffered a concussion and fractures in his wrists, according to doctors at the hospital where he was treated, who were referred to by the Chilean media. His condition was stable yesterday.
The prosecution also accuses the police officer of not offering the slightest help to the teenager and of giving false information to the authorities.
In October and November 2019, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Chile every day to protest social demands and denounce the blatant inequalities in the country. They called for better access to the health system and educational institutions and for the government to move away from the neoliberal economic model. The security forces, both the police and the army, which was called to intervene, are accused of more than thirty deaths.
According to the Chilean National Institute for Human Rights, at least 460 protesters suffered eye injuries during last year's protests and riots, as police deliberately threw shrapnel, tear gas and water cannons at dozens of protesters. Two of the injured suffered total blindness; two police officers were arrested in late August as part of their investigation into their cases. Another 35 lost their sight through one eye.